UConn to honor 1994-95 champions

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The team, which finished 35-0 and earned UConn's first No. 1 national ranking, will be inducted into the "UConn Huskies of Honor" during a ceremony Nov. 16 at Gampel Pavilion when the Huskies host Georgia Tech in the season opener. It will be the first time a team is recognized in the Huskies of Honor program.

The inaugural class, which was recognized Dec. 21, 2006, included 10 first-team All-Americans and Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma.

"I think it's important that you go back and you try to reconnect with the people that are such a big part of this,'' Auriemma said.

"That's supposed to be something special up there for special people, and there were a lot of special people on that team other than those whose names are on that wall already. So I think it's appropriate that we do that for that team and for those people that think the program started when Diana (Taurasi) got here. It's good for them to see what was here before that.''

A 4-by-5 foot panel will be unveiled in honor of the team during the ceremony. Also, a large panel of the team will be placed on display adjacent to the scoreboard on the east end of Gampel Pavilion, and a plaque, featuring the 13 players and four coaches, will be on permanent display on the lobby level of Gampel.

Auriemma said Thursday that he believes all five of UConn's national championship teams will be honored in the future.

PARTY OF ONE: Kelly Faris, a 5-foot-11 guard from Plainfield, Ind., will be UConn's only member of the class of 2009. Krista Gross, a 6-foot wing from Concord, N.C., orally committed to North Carolina Thursday.

Gross, who is rated No. 23 in the class by ESPN HoopGurlz, chose the Tar Heels over UConn, Stanford and Florida. She visited UConn during the weekend of Oct. 17-18 and attended the First Night festivities at Gampel Pavilion.